This information is provided by your Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Professional Standards Committee.

The holidays can be fun, but they also can be a source of great stress. Below are some common holiday stressors and suggestions for managing them.

How Can You Deal With Difficult Family Interactions During the Holidays?

Being realistic is the first step. Family dynamics typically revert to historic patterns when families come back together. You don’t have to pretend that all is well, but, you can sidestep difficulties by anticipating them and planning on ways to temporarily separate and defuse.

Do Financial Pressures Stress You Out to the Point of Ruining the Holiday Spirit?

Knowing your spending limit is also a way to relieve holiday stress. People believe that they have to go out and buy gifts because it’s the holidays, even if they can’t afford to do so. Not only is it stressful to feel that you have to buy everyone a gift, but you’ll be stressed for the rest of the year trying to pay off your bills. Perhaps this is the year to make a pact not to exchange gifts but to share time together. This could also help someone who isn’t in a financial position to exchange gifts with you.

How Do Time Pressures Affect You Around the Holidays?

Putting routines on pause or totally rearranging schedules because of the holidays are the ingredients for exhaustion and chaos. Prioritize activities that are important and can fit around important replenishing activities like sleep, proper meals and exercise.

How Do You Deal With the Holidays When You Have Just Experienced A Recent Tragedy, Death or Break-up?

If you’re feeling really out of sorts because of a loss or stressor, try to tell those around you what you really need, since they may not know how to help you. Ask for their understanding if you decline an activity or can’t summon up the holiday spirit. Give yourself permission to grieve just as you would any other time of the year.

How Do You Cope With Kids Who Want Everything for the Holidays?

Parents need to tell their children to be realistic. It is OK to say to your child that a certain toy is too expensive. Even Santa Claus has limited funds and has to choose what most to give because he has a very long list. You can also tell your children that Mom and Dad and Santa Claus will try to choose the suitable present for the child. Children have to learn that their wish is not someone’s command and to curb their desires for instant gratification.

How Do You Manage the Holidays If They Start Feeling Painful?

If you are unable to shake what you think are “holiday blues” your feelings may not be just about the holidays, but about other things in your life. If you need help in sorting out or dealing with painful thoughts or feelings, call your AFA EAP for confidential assistance. Call 1-800-424-2406.

Adapted in part from the American Psychological Association at www.apacenter.org

There has been a lot of interest recently in marijuana oils and products containing Cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is a different chemical compound than tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component of the marijuana plant. You may have read about such products or seen them in the news.

It is important to know that CBD oils and other products containing CBD are considered to be Schedule I controlled substances and are therefore illegal under federal law. Under federal guidelines, these substances do not have an acceptable medical application. Regardless of labeling, products containing CBD, may contain traces of THC that would trigger a positive drug test and place your employment at risk.

You can read more about use of CBD oils and the federal government position on their use in a memorandum from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that you can access by clicking here.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact the AFA Alaska EAP Committee. You can find contact information on the EAP Committee pageof the AFA Alaska website. Any contact made to AFA EAP is completely confidential.

You may also contact the Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program (FADAP) Hotline at (855) 333-2327 or visit http://www.fadap.org.

Transition Training began last week. Despite recent updates to the Cornerstone Training program, we are still receiving reports of technical difficulties with both the app and the desktop version. If you experience trouble, go to https://support.afaalaska.org, and open a ticket. We would encourage you to start early, to avoid problems.

We are also aware it is taking longer than 4 hours to complete. Please make sure to include that in your trouble ticket above.

The most important thing with any computer or IMD Training, screen shot or take a picture of the completion page. Do not rely on the program to register you as completed. If it does not show you as completed, we need some sort of evidence to be able to manually process your completion.

When taking the test remember it is open book and you can take it from your IMD or from a computer. To make the test easier to complete have your Manual, Ghost Manual and Study Guide open on one device and the test open in a separate device so you don’t have to switch back and forth. In the event that you fail the test, you will receive an email advising you that you have 7 days after class ends to retake a paper version. You can take the paper version during lunch break at TT or schedule to take it at base.

The Ghost Manual is the combined manual we will be using starting next year.

Practice your door drills, take a deep breath and go slow. The training is very hands on, try not to stress to much.

CBT Training

The most recent CBT training was due May 11, 2018. There were 13 Flight Attendants issued discipline because of failure to complete the training. Several of these disciplines have been rescinded after AFA was able to determine why the training had not been completed. If you were issued discipline and have not responded to our attempts to reach you, or you have email or screen shots showing your technical difficulties with the program please contact San@afaalaska.org. There is a possibility of getting the discipline reversed.

Required Items

In a recent bulletin, Inflight Performance announced that forgotten required items will result in steps of discipline. We are aware of several recent instances of expired badges, as well as reporting without an IMD. Make certain that you have all required items before reporting to your flight.

EAP Committee

We recently posted openings for EAP representatives. We were overwhelmed by the number of Flight Attendants who expressed interest. We reviewed the applications and chose 3 flight attendants to join our EAP Committee. We will be looking again at the beginning of the year and will be contacting those who were not selected to gauge interest and open it to anyone interested to apply again including hopefully Flight Attendants on the Airbus side who will have been able to transfer into SAN.

Supplemental Insurance

Supplemental Insurance Enrollment, through National Group Protection, will take place during the week of 8/14-16, in SAN. The premiums for these coverages can be payroll deducted. If SAN isn’t a convenient location, drop into any base during scheduled visits.

· Seattle July 23rd—27th

· Anchorage July 30th–August 1st

· Los Angeles August 6th—8th

· San Diego August 14th—16th

· Portland August 20th—22nd

Accident Insurance

Critical Illness Coverage

Whole Life Insurance

There are some benefit enhancements/upgrades this year, so please take the time to sit down with a benefit counselor and review your options. This is also an excellent time to make sure you have filed for your annual health screening benefits, which are part of the accident and critical illness benefit plans.

· Supplemental – these plans supplement any existing coverage

· Voluntary – members choose to participate

· Limited Underwriting – no medical or physical exams required

· Family Coverage – available with all of the plans

· Portable – members can continue coverage if they leave the company

· Payroll Deduction – premiums are paid through payroll deduction

If you have any questions regarding the upcoming enrollment, please contact National Group Protection (NGP) at 800-344-9016.

Workers Comp Using Your Own Doctor

Non California Residents

Forms can be obtained from Base Management or from your Officers

In the event you sustain an injury or illness related to your employment, you may be treated for such injury or illness by your personal medical doctor (M.D.), doctor of osteopathic medicine (D.O.) or medical group if:

• on the date of your work injury you have health care coverage for injuries or illnesses that are not work related;

• the doctor is your regular physician, who shall be either a physician who has limited his or her practice of medicine to general practice or who is a board-certified or board-eligible internist, pediatrician, obstetrician-gynecologist, or family practitioner, and has previously directed your medical treatment, and retains your medical records;

• your “personal physician” may be a medical group if it is a single corporation or partnership composed of licensed Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy, which operates an integrated multispecialty medical group providing comprehensive medical services predominantly for nonoccupational illnesses and injuries;

• prior to the injury your doctor agrees to treat you for work injuries or illnesses;

• prior to the injury you provided your employer the following in writing: (1) notice that you want your personal doctor to treat you for a work-related injury or illness, and (2) your personal doctor’s name and business address.

Do You Want to Become a Nationally Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (NCPRSS)?

The National Association of Drug and Alcohol Counselors (NAADAC) is offering a ONE-Time test exemption pathway to obtain this certification. This certification will allow you to seek employment /volunteer within substance abuse treatment facilities that are using recovery peers to support their patients in early recovery. This offer is open until December 31, 2018. Below are the specifics that you need to know:

To qualify, you must have:

A High School Diploma

Minimum of 2 years of recovery from substance use and/or co-occurring mental health disorder

200 hours of direct practice (volunteer or paid hours) in a peer recovery support environment.

Provide evidence of 60 hours of education. 50% of those hours must be from face to face learning (not online). 6 of the hours must be in ethics (within the last 6 years) and 6 must be in HIV and other pathogens (within the last 6 years).

To Apply:

Complete the application and submit it before December 31, 2018.

The application must include two references, one of which must be professional contained in sealed envelopes.

You must mail the completed application and all supporting documentation with the application fee.

Flight Attendants, both male and female, are not immune from the risks of violence, including sexual assaults. Consider the following statistics on rapes and attempted rapes from the Department of Justice:

Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted.

Most rapists are not a masked or unknown person. Approximately 70% of female victims and 74% of male victims know their assailant (i.e. friend, acquaintance etc.)

Only one out of ten rapes involves the use of a weapon.

60% of rapes take place away from the victim’s home and most take place between the hours of 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM.

Physical force or the threat of physical force is the primary mode of victimization. This includes the use of drugs that renders the victim physically helpless and usually unable to remember what happened. These drugs are called “date rape drugs”. They often have no color, smell or taste and can be easily added to flavored drinks without the victim’s knowledge. Educate yourself on the use of these drugs and ways in which you can protect yourself, on and off the job. Below is some information to help you with this.

What are date rape drugs?

These are drugs that are sometimes use in facilitating a sexual assault. Sexual assault is any type of sexual activity that a person does not agree to. It can include inappropriate touching, sexual intercourse and attempted rape. The effects of these drugs render victims physically helpless, unable to refuse sex, and unable to remember what happened. The drugs often have no color smell or taste and are easily added to flavored drinks without the victim’s knowledge. There are at least three common date rape drugs. (Although we use the term “date rape,” most experts prefer the term drug facilitated sexual assault.”).

GHB (gamma hydroxybutyric acid) is a drug used to treat narcolepsy. The drug can be in many forms including liquid, powder and pill.

Rohypnol is a used for sleep disorders and as an anesthetic. It also comes in pill form.

Ketamine is a drug used as an anesthetic for humans and mostly for animals. The drug is a white powder.

What effects do these drugs have on the body?

These drugs can affect you quickly. The length of time that the effects last varies. It depends on how much of the drug is taken and if the drug is mixed with other substances, like alcohol. Alcohol can expedite and worsen the drug’s effect. These drugs can cause relaxation, drowsiness, dizziness, unconsciousness, impaired motor function, memory problems, numbness, distorted perception of sight and sound, confusion, vomiting, even coma and death.

How can I protect myself ?

Never leave your drink or food unattended, not even with a person whom you think you should be able to trust.

Only order beverages that are brought to your table in sealed bottles.

If you have a history of black-outs from drinking, you can never predict when one will occur. For your safety, consider ordering only non-alcoholic beverages.

Should you find yourself awakening without any memory in a strange environment or situation, proceed immediately to the emergency room to be tested for the presence of a date rape drug and medically evaluated for a sexual assault.

If you have a friend who passes out, do not let anyone take the unconscious person to her/his room. Instead, keep the person exactly where they are and insist that medical help be called.

Assistance available to you

Remember, confidential support and assistance is just a phone call away through your AFA EAP. Call anytime. AFA Alaska EAP can be reached at (949) 470-0493 or you can find contact information for your Local EAP Committee at http://afaalaska.org/eap. You can also contact the International AFA EAP Helpline at (800) 424-2406.

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